Bill Van Cannon, editor of the Tri County Press of Cuba City, Wis.
writes on March 12th "Musical instrument may be better investment
than @&!#@ computer." After viewing a PSA from the National
Coalition for Music Education on a local station and discussing the
findings of the Shaw/Rauscher study on music and early childhood
development he writes, "I've attended a lot of school board meetings
the past few years and I have yet to see anyone seriously question
the value of computer technology. In fact, when school districts talk
about computer technology they tend to talk abut it in terms of
spending hundreds of thousands of dollars. But where's the empirical
evidence to show that color monitors and more hard drive actually
produces better students?"

After commenting further of the mad rush to spend on technology
"to make Bill Gates rich" he makes his point, "I find this all very
ironic as I consider the plight of my mother, a music teacher of some
thirty years who is nearing retirement." He explains how she is now
having to teach computers instead of music, how it is a waste of
talent and how the children would be better served with supporting
music instead of this made rush for technology. "The answer my friend
can be found in those musical notes blowing in the wind."